Innholdsfortegnelse for December 7, 2019 i Billboard Magazine

TANK AND THE BANGAS BEST NEW ARTIST MADISON CUNNINGHAM BEST AMERICANA ALBUM ANGELIQUE KIDJO BEST WORLD MUSIC ALBUM J.S. ONDARA BEST AMERICANA ALBUM JOSH CHEUSE BEST BOXED OR SPECIAL LIMITED EDITION PACKAGE (JOHN COLTRANE) OKLAHOMA! BEST MUSICAL THEATER ALBUM ANDREA BOCELLI BEST TRADITIONAL POP VOCAL ALBUM GUSTAVO DUDAMEL & LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC BEST ORCHESTRAL PERFORMANCE ANDREW NORMAN BEST CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL COMPOSITION YUJA WANG BEST CLASSICAL INSTRUMENTAL SOLO CHRISTIAN THIELEMANN BEST OPERA RECORDING JOHN WILLIAMS BEST ARRANGEMENT, INSTRUMENTAL OR A CAPPELLA (ANNE-SOPHIE MUTTER) JULIA WOLFE BEST CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL COMPOSITION BOB HANLON & LAWRENCE ROCK BEST ENGINEERED ALBUM CLASSICAL NICOLA BENEDETTI BEST CLASSICAL INSTRUMENTAL SOLO WYNTON MARSALIS BEST CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL COMPOSITION MIRGA GRAŽINYTĖ-TYLA BEST ORCHESTRAL PERFORMANCE HILDUR GUÐNADÓTTIR BEST SCORE SOUNDTRACK FOR VISUAL MEDIA SEBASTIAN PLANO BEST NEW AGE ALBUM…

i, i Bon Iver PRODUCERS Brad Cook, Chris Messina, Justin Vernon ENGINEERS/MIXERS Zach Hansen, Chris Messina SONGWRITERS BJ Burton, Brad Cook, Justin Vernon MASTERING ENGINEER Greg Calbi LABEL Jagjaguwar Justin Vernon became an unlikely Grammy darling in 2012, when his indie-folk project, Bon Iver, earned four nominations and two wins with its self-titled sophomore album, including the best new artist trophy. After detouring into more electronic territory with 2016’s 22, A Million, their fourth album, i,i, synthesizes Bon Iver’s hushed songwriting style and experimental production techniques. Several of Vernon’s contemporaries from the indie rock community — including James Blake, Moses Sumney and The National’s Aaron Dessner — contributed to i,i, while heartland rock legend Bruce Hornsby guests on standout track “U (Man Like).” With i,i, Bon Iver’s third straight…

YOLA Best New Artist Best Americana Album Best American Roots Performance Best American Roots Song NONESUCH RECORDS. NO BOUNDARIES. DAN AUERBACH Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical CAROLINE SHAW Best Contemporary Classical Composition ATTACCA QUARTET Best Chamber Music / Small Ensemble Performance BRAD MEHLDAU Best Jazz Instrumental Album JOSHUA REDMAN QUARTET Best Jazz Instrumental Album RHIANNON GIDDENS & FRANCESCO TURRISI Best American Roots Performance LESLIE ANN JONES JOHN KILGORE JUDITH SHERMAN DAVID HARRINGTON ROBERT C. LUDWIG Best Engineered Album, Classical…

BEST ROCK SONG “Fear Inoculum” TOOL SONGWRITERS Danny Carey, Justin Chancellor, Adam Jones, Maynard James Keenan Many feared that the prog-metal giants would never again release another album after 2006’s 10,000 Days, but those fears were finally quashed when Tool delivered its fifth studio LP, Fear Inoculum, on Aug. 30. Already renowned for its sprawling epics, the band chose the eclectic 10-minute title track — equal parts sinewy and spellbinding — as the lead single. The move could have sunk many groups, but it propelled the enigmatic quartet to surprising commercial success: With many stations choosing to play the complete version, “Fear Inoculum” has spent 15 weeks (and counting) on Mainstream Rock Songs, peaking at No. 2, becoming the longest song to reach the Hot 100 — and the…

BEST COUNTRY SONG “Bring My Flowers Now” TANYA TUCKER SONGWRITERS Brandi Carlile, Phil Hanseroth, Tim Hanseroth, Tanya Tucker A poignant piano ballad about celebrating life in the moment and with no regrets, Tucker held onto the idea for “Bring My Flowers Now” for nearly 40 years before she mentioned it in passing to co-writer Brandi Carlile. While in the studio recording While I’m Livin’ with co-producers Carlile and Shooter Jennings, the band was on a break and Carlile urged Tucker, who already had the song’s chorus written, to finish the tune. “We just fell into it and wrote it, and then we recorded it,” Tucker told Billboard in August. “Of course the best line is ‘We all think we got the time until we don’t,’ and I wish I…

Landing the perfect look for the Grammy Awards may be over-whelming for executives who are expecting to be photographed but aren’t aiming to steal the spotlight. Enter Harry Lambert, style consigliere to Harry Styles, and Kat Typaldos, style collaborator of Maggie Rogers. From their respective London and New York nooks, the two offer tips to industry insiders looking to shake things up. MENSWEAR GIVE OXFORDS THE BOOT “On a red carpet, I never tend to do an Oxford shoe. There’s something about a lace-up shoe that, for me, always takes it into that world of business. A boot looks clean with a suit, and one with a slight heel can elongate your legs. The Grammys are quite a fun and experimental place, so you can push it a little…

WHEN THEY’RE NOT WORKING on Grammy campaigns in the months leading up to music’s biggest night, executives across the industry are crossing off another item on their to-do lists: congratulating artists and colleagues with gifts. “Grammys are our Super Bowl,” says Steve Carless, vp A&R at Def Jam — and that means making sure star players feel appreciated. Still, there are multiple factors to consider when it comes to celebrating Grammy success. Sarah Mary Cunningham, senior director of publicity at Columbia Records, advises to do your homework: “Years ago, I had a client who was nominated who had just bought a weekend farm home upstate and I gifted them a Patagonia puffer,” she says. “I always take note when an artist-client follows a brand on socials or tweets/posts about…

BEST POP SOLO PERFORMANCE “SPIRIT” BEYONCÉ During a year that included the live album release of her 2018 Coachella performance and accompanying documentary, Homecoming, Beyoncé also found time to produce and curate The Lion King: The Gift, the companion album to Disney’s live-action remake of the film, in which she voiced the character Nala. She announced the project with its lead single, “SPIRIT,” a rousing ballad about personal destiny and resilience that both traces and transcends the narrative of the movie, opening with a chant in Swahili, a nod to Africa, where the film is set. “Spirit, can you hear it calling?” roars Queen Bey in the hook, as the bare piano hymn transforms into a hand-clapping anthem. The track reached No. 7 on Hot R&B Songs and also…

BEST R&B SONG “Could’ve Been” H.E.R. featuring Bryson Tiller SONGWRITERS Dernst Emile II, David “Swagg R’Celious” Harris, H.E.R., Hue “Soundzfire” Strother In just two years, H.E.R. racked up 10 Grammy nominations, winning two last year for best R&B performance and best R&B album. Nominated in both the best R&B performance and best R&B song categories, “Could’ve Been” (featuring Bryson Tiller) is an ode to a romance that never blooms. First released in 2018, “Could’ve Been” appears on H.E.R.’s 2019 I Used to Love Her compilation, a project which is also nominated for album of the year. (While she has released two successful compilations, the singer has yet to release what she considers her debut album.) H.E.R. also received nods in the major categories for record and song of the…

BEST LATIN POP ALBUM Vida LUIS FONSI If you’re wondering if Vida is that album — yes, it is. Somewhere in the middle of the track list lies not one, but two versions of “Despacito” (one featuring Daddy Yankee, and a remix with Justin Bieber). Vida also boasts “Échame la Culpa” with Demi Lovato, and “Calypso” with Stefflon Don. But beyond the slew of rhythmic/Latin hits that now feel so long ago, this is an album where Fonsi is able to truly mine the R&B roots that so define his sound, and often get muted. As if affirming this fact, Vida kicks off with “Sola,” a rhythmic ballad set over a barely there accompaniment of beats and chords where Fonsi plays with his voice, imparting hints of soul few…

ROSSOBLU Wes Vause Senior vp publicity, Warner Music Nashville “The food is delicious, the space is beautiful, and it feels like a celebration the minute you walk in the door. There are plenty of options to please everyone … from vegetarians to carnivores.” SOHO WAREHOUSE Kevin Weaver President, Atlantic Records, West Coast “It’s just down the street from our new home [in the Arts District] and a perfect option to bring artists to. The space has an awesome creative energy — and the view is unbelievable.” MAJORDOMO Wendy Ong President, TaP Management and Records “I love the industrial location north of Chinatown — heading there after dark is like stumbling upon a speakeasy. The food is tasty modern Asian coupled with an American fine-dining experience.” HARRIET’S ROOFTOP Eric Wong…

ALICIA KEYS WAS looking forward to a quiet dinner. The singer had spent the day at a photo shoot atop one of the highest peaks in Los Angeles’ Topanga Canyon Park, at the Moon-fire Ranch, an oddball hippie estate that once hosted Andy Warhol and Jim Morrison. But as our car pulls up to the Italian spot she had in mind, she’s somewhat surprised to see a throng of paparazzi outside. “Wait for my bat signal!” she jokes over the phone to actress Zoe Saldana, a friend who she’s supposed to be meeting shortly. For now, she decides to stay put and hide in the car. Keys, 38, hadn’t realized that Giorgio Baldi has a reputation as a celebrity magnet — actually, she had never heard of it at…

BLACK PUMAS Eric Burton formed the soul-funk group Black Pumas with Adrian Quesada two years ago in Austin, after performing there and in Los Angeles as a street busker. Now, the duo is one of the major success stories of ATO Records, which released Black Pumas’ self-titled debut album in June. Quesada, previously a Grammy winner for best Latin rock/alternative/urban album with El Grupo Fantasma, tells Billboard that when he found out about the best new artist nomination, “I went through every range of emotions. First the adrenaline came out — I felt like I had just dunked in the NBA Finals and went to Eric right away. I eventually sat there and shed some tears, too.” Prior to issuing their first full-length together, Burton and Quesada performed at…

BEST DANCE/ELECTRONIC ALBUM LP5 APPARAT German producer Sascha Ring has long been on the experimental end of the spectrum, releasing music for nearly two decades with his solo project Apparat, and with Moderat, a collaboration with German duo Modeselektor. This year, Ring gets his first Grammy nomination with LP5, an album that finds traction in softness, with skittering beats and spatial sound design laying a foundation for his earnest vocals (comparisons have included Thom Yorke and Chris Martin). This surprise nomination reflects The Recording Academy’s investment into electronic music that exists far from festival mainstages, with LP5 more at home in the afterhours or athome listening realm of the scene. No Geography THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS The Chemical Brothers return to the best dance/electronic album category — where they’ve been…

BEST RAP ALBUM Revenge of the Dreamers III DREAMVILLE Through the years, J. Cole earned a reputation as one of hip-hop’s lone rangers, due to his resistance to collaborations and guest features. But in 2019, Cole scrubbed off his “platinum with no features” moniker by assembling his legion of Dreamville soldiers to create the collaborative album Revenge of the Dreamers III. Cole masterminds the 18 tracks, which include starry features from MCs such as DaBaby (“Under the Sun”) and T.I. (“Ladies, Ladies, Ladies”). Still, it’s Cole’s roster of all-stars that drives home the project, thanks to JID’s hypnotic hooks (“Down Bad”), Earthgang’s seamless chemistry (“Sacrifices”) and Ari Lennox’s silky vocals (“Got Me”). Championships MEEK MILL Meek Mill’s talent for turning traumatic losses into moments of triumph is why he’s…

RECORD OF THE YEAR “Hey, Ma” Bon Iver BJ Burton, Brad Cook, Chris Messina and Justin Vernon, producers; BJ Burton, Zach Hansen and Chris Messina, engineers/mixers; Greg Calbi, mastering engineer “Bad Guy” Billie Eilish Finneas O’Connell, producer; Rob Kinelski and Finneas O’Connell, engineers/mixers; John Greenham, mastering engineer “7 Rings” Ariana Grande Charles Anderson, Tommy Brown, Michael Foster and Victoria Monét, producers; Serban Ghenea, John Hanes, Billy Hickey and Brendan Morawski, engineers/mixers; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer “Hard Place” H.E.R. Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, producer; Joseph Hurtado, Jaycen Joshua, Derek Keota and Miki Tsutsumi, engineers/mixers; Colin Leonard, mastering engineer “Talk” Khalid Disclosure and Denis Kosiak, producers; Ingmar Carlson, Jon Castelli, Josh Deguzman, John Kercy, Denis Kosiak, Guy Lawrence and Michael Romero, engineers/mixers; Dale Becker, mastering engineer “Old Town Road” Lil Nas X…